St. Sophia cathedral
Basing on Nestor the Chronicler’s records it was Yaroslav the Wise who in 1036 ordered to lay the foundation of St. Sophia cathedral on the place of a victory over pechenegs (a hostile nomadic tribe). In that time it was a monumental cathedral (in the first half of the XI-th century the majority of cultural sites of Europe didn’t exist) with thirteen leaden domes symbolizing Jesus Christ and twelve disciples. The walls were not plastered but made of big-size bricks (plinth) the cubic centimeter of which takes up pressure up to 170 kg. The secret of plinth manufacturing technology remains undisclosed.
On the eastern front the orange laying can be seen today. It is a famous Old Russian laying borrowed allegedly from Roman-Byzantine architecture. In 1240 Tatar Mongols ravaged the cathedral. The church stood in desolation for over 300 years. Its reconstruction began under the famous Kiev metropolitan Peter Mohyla in the XVII-th century and lasted in the XVIII-th and XIX-th centuries. Annexes and 6 additional pear-shaped gold-plated domes were built in baroque style. But the main value of the St. Sophia cathedral is that only its exterior changed. The interior remained unchanged meaning that all the unique frescos and mosaics made by craftsmen in the distant XI-th century are still untouched. The St. Sophia cathedral is one of Unesco’s heritage sites - the masterpiece of global importance. The 950-year anniversary was celebrated all over the world.
Visit to St. Sophia cathedral is included into the excursion plan:
Excursion name “Orthodox Kiev”.
